Some live shots from the Queen experience

I’m not a ….. photographer.
Well you’ve heard that a lot on this blog, but it also means that I just LOVE to experiment with different kinds of shooting styles and parts of the photography business. In the past I’ve done some small concerts, the concerts where you can just walk in with a camera bag filled with gear, can get up to the podium after asking all 40 fans if they mind if you take a shot….. however big concerts…. well that was a dream.

As many of you probably also know, I’m a HUGE Queen fan, so when Wibi told me he would be playing as a special guest at the Queen Experience my heart jumped. I knew it was a huge concert (app 30.000 people), I also knew the light would be awesome, but …. I also knew that getting to shoot something like that is tricky. A few years ago I got permission from Wibi to shoot during a Mojo concert and still had to hand over my camera to the organization because they made the rules, so when I heard they got me a press card including stage access my heart jumped from joy.

Nothing prepared me however for what was about to happen.
Before the show we were escorted by security to the stage, and this was really close. I brought a wide-angle also of course and that was a good thing. The thing I did not like was the fact we were only allowed 2 songs in the warmup act and 2 songs from the main act, that time really flies I never expected it to be that quick. However being so close to the stage was a very nice thing.
As always I try to find nice lighting situations and normally I’m used to shooting on ISO2500 and up and running into problems with shutter times, this concert I started with ISO2500 to realize I really did not need shutter times above 1/2000 of a second… the light was great. Most shots ended up in the ISO1000-1600 area, just to make sure I got the shot and because ISO1600 is already very clean on the 5DMKII.

As Queen fan I’m always a bit “weird” about cover bands. We’ve seen some bad ones over the years and actually never a good one, although some people will call Queen + Paul Rodgers a sort of cover band (I disagree, loved the concert, hated the album) but anyway when you have such a crowd it better be good. And I can say…. with a little bit mixed feelings this was awesome. The singer really had a good voice although he did try to emulate Freddy just a bit too much in his expressions during the small “talks” with the audience. But that’s me I guess.

The main problem I experienced during the concert was the fact that because we were standing rather low and the stage had a raised platform it was almost impossible to shoot the people including their feet, on the other hand with a little creative composition 😀

Two songs go really quick, so I was glad that I got a second opportunity when Wibi was playing. Because not all photographers stayed till that point we were allowed a few minutes earlier so I was also able to shoot a few more from the band themselves.

I also love close ups with just a little bit of movement, it’s a hit and miss game, but I loved this one.

Same for backlighting, not 100% happy with this one, but somehow I also like it.

Don’t try this at home, or in the studio, or even outside 🙂

And finally it was time for Wibi.
I’ve shot Wibi many many times but every time he seems to surprise me, and this was no exception, loved his styling for this concert, but most of all I was literally BLOWN away by his composition with Queen songs, it was a REAL goose bump moment, and hearing the crowd I was not the only one, this was just awesome.

After Wibi we had to go back backstage and I left my camera there to enter the arena and enjoy the rest of the show, and I thought that Wibi’s performance was without a doubt one of the high points, nothing prepared me for the end where a 150 piece choir and orchestra performed Barcelona including an awesome opera singer…. wow that was goose bump moment number 2. It’s a shame they did not allow photography there 🙁

Sorry for the many images in this post, but here are some more of my fav shots.

To be 100% honest it’s very addictive to be able to do this kind of shots, and I don’t think it will be last time I will be trying to get this close during a larger concert, let’s see if we can build up the quality so to say 😀
Thanks for reading all the way to the end.